1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to protective enclosures of the type that discourage the entry of insects, and particularly to such an enclosure that will prevent the accessibility of flies and other flying insects to fresh-killed game or dressed meat.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
A preliminary patentability and novelty search was conducted in connection with the subject matter of this invention in Class 135, sub-classes 90, 116 and 117; and in Class 312, subclasses 6, 213, 245 and 258. As a result of such search the following United States patents were found to exist:
______________________________________ 613,865 1,343,800 2,631,520 1,411,272 ______________________________________
Although the foreign prior art in the classes and subclasses indicated above was also searched, no additional pertinent prior art patents were found.
U.S. Pat. No. 613,865 conceptually relates to a portable screen structure capable of protecting against flies, mosquitos and other insects, but the construction of the portable screen structure taught by this patent is very different from the structure forming the subject matter of the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,343,800 relates to a tent and hammock, illustrating a structure that is suspended above the ground for enclosing a hammock on which a person may sleep.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,411,272 discloses a "safe" specifically designed for the storage of fresh meat in the out-of-doors, and is adapted to be hung from a limb of a tree or other support. The fresh meat is deposited on the floor of the enclosure, with the enclosure supporting the weight of the meat. Important structural and functional differences exist between the disclosure by this patent and the subject matter of the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,631,520 is also directed to a device for protecting a carcass, such as a recently killed deer, for instance. Thus, while the end result of protecting the carcass or fresh meat from flies and other insects may be achieved by this device, the structure by which this is achieved is significantly different from the structure forming the subject matter of the instant invention.
Those that are not accustomed to hunting wild game for food, or "dressing" a carcass in the out-of-doors, or even in dismembering a carcass to facilitate transporting it, are not usually aware that leaving fresh-killed game or fresh and raw meat exposed in the out-of-doors invites contamination of the meat by insects, particularly the so-called "blow fly" whose propensity is to lay eggs in the fresh meat, which subsequently hatch to become larvae that feed off the fresh meat.
It is important that fresh-killed game be "dressed" quickly in the field, and hung so that blood drains from the meat, and to give the meat a chance to cool below the natural body heat of the live animal.
It seems alsmost axiomatic that when wild game, such as deer, or elk are hunted and shot, the animal falls and dies in locations that at worst are inaccessible, and at best far from roadways accessible to vehicles and equipment to facilitate carrying the carcass to a location where it may be "dressed" and the meat immediately placed in cold storage. Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is the provision of a shelter that is light, thus being easy to carry by a hunter, and which is easy to erect at the site of a "kill" so that the animal killed may be quickly dressed out and dismembered into portions that may immediately be hung within the shelter for protection from flying insects, particularly "blow-flies."
After fresh meat has cooled in a protective shelter such as the one forming the subject matter of this invention, it is important to be able to wrap the meat in the material from which the protective shelter is formed, until the meat may be transported to cold storage facilities. Accordingly, another object of the present invention is the provision of a protective shelter for fresh-killed game that is sufficiently flexible that it may be wrapped about the dressed portions of meat to prevent access to the meat by insects during transport.
Because of the environment in which the portable protective meathouse is used, it will of course become soiled with blood and possibly dirt if it is permitted to come into contact with the ground. Accordingly, another object of the invention is the provision of a protective shelter for fresh meat that is non-absorbent and may be easily laundered to remove blood that may have adhered to it during use.
Still another object of the invention is the provision of a protective shelter for fresh-killed meat in which the shelter may be suspended from a horizontal support prior to the introduction of the fresh meat into the shelter, and the fresh meat portions then suspended within the shelter from the horizontal support without imposing any weight on the shelter.
The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will become apparent from the following description and the drawings. It is to be understood however that the invention is not limited to the embodiment illustrated and described since it may be embodied in various forms within the scope of the appended claims.